Cliff's Mecca...

So, it's been a bit different in a very good way for me. Enough to warrant a general personal post, as opposed to something more general.

As of Saturday, Dad, my brother, a family friend, and myself took off on a little road trip (yes, laptop included!. We're in San Fransico, and we'll end up in Santa Barbara.

Of course, then, for me this starts off with a bang, because San Fransisco is quite possibly the coolest place ever for me. Better yet, I had today pretty much all to myself. It's been something I've been looking forward for weeks, and today really didn't disappoint.

It actually started with a few little misfire; I woke up around nine, having missed my alarm (I need to reconfigure it so that my iPod rings on its external speakers, not in the noise-cancelling headphones!), and after that I went to the Embarcadero Towers, only to find there wasn't something available for breakfast (hey, I forget the day of the week regularly enough!). I did manage to stop at a store on the way, though, and buy some comic books, so I was appeased without breakfast.

So I decided to do my every-trip Chinatown run, the one in which I go on my only serious shopping trip pretty much ever. To be honest, I pretty much buy clothes in red and shades of grey, but other than that my other major preference would be that the clothes have some form of Asian insignias. Not only that, but I design my room and accessories pretty similarly, and I even collect martial arts type materials and weapons. In other words, quite a number of the products you'll find in Chinatown, turning a usually highly-discriminating shopper into a maniacal spender.

Mind you, I knew this pretty well, having been here so many times in my life. So I even told myself that I would restrain myself until the way back, and pick up what I really, really liked. By that point, I should have forgotten some things, and I wouldn't be carrying anything until I would deposit my bags in my room.

Well, so much for that. I had hardly gone two blocks and I had a number of bags. By the end of Grant Street (which I had planned to get off of...), a shop clerk offered to give me a larger bag so I could fit the tons of bags I was carrying into one space, amazed by the number I already had. At that point, accepting the larger bag, I decided not to get anything else until I got back and deposited things in the hotel room. That almost worked.

During my shopping extravaganza, I also managed to slip into a resturant for dim sum. As I may have mentioned here, dim sum, along with pad thai, is pretty much my favorite group category ever, and so that was immensely enjoyable. Indeed, I left very happy and full, having consumed some fifteen or so dumplings of different varieties. Very full, indeed, for someone who otherwise doesn't eat excessively at all, to the surprise of others (indeed, teenagers aren't supposed to eat lightly, apparently, and sometimes I can. Occasionally, not so much).

In other words, I was having my little mecca, and in the process the time of my life.

After that, though, I did actually return to the room, to some surprise. Dad was there, already tired from doing, well, I don't know. After that, I was out again, back towards the touristy areas (the Wharf, Cannery Row), to and around Nob Hill, to North Beach, and back to Chinatown for a different trip, with the exception of a hat and sweatshirt. I went to a local temple (Golden Mountain Sagely Monetary, I think), saw a ceremony there, looked at a martial arts class that was conducted well enough to make me envious I didn't live in San Fransisco, and watched a volleyball game, amongst other things. It's always something I've done out of interest, and since no one seems to mind (in fact, some people seem flattered. It might have been more uncomfortable for me if I thought people honestly thought me a nuisance; however, my experience is that martial artists are flattered when people are interested in what they do, and the people at the temple are always friendly to visitors), it was good fun just to walk around and just be in that environment. I was having again a lot of fun throughout.

After that, I was at Union Square, just looking around, mostly in a confused yet bemused state. Not being one who is familiar at all with department stores, it was interesting just to see the kind of behavior there and at the prices, almost as a way of seeing a bit into a social life I otherwise never really saw much, for reasons of my choice. It was also fun looking at the prices, which to me were just astounding.

At that point, it was time for a scheduled dinner, so I returned to the room and changed. Dad had wanted to get us dressed up and go to some well-regarded resturant he had me pick, and so we went. The food was good, the acoustics too loud for me (typical enough, I suppose, but more of an issue here than most places I head to), service fine. I won't mention the price, but let's say I was, ahem, amused that my Dad didn't mind as much as I did. I'm one of those people who likes food that's just as good that exists outside that environment, but since it was very much Dad's thing and not mine, it was fine for his tastes, I believe.

And here I am, back at my laptop, having gone through all that. I think what's interesting is that it's not all that different from my normal San Fransisco trips. They always have very consistent elements to them, and I think it's very ingrained in my mind, a pocket routine in an exceptional situation that I derive a ton of pleasure from, and one that lasts a lot longer that any simple high I normally have, actually, though it's complicated. Complicated, but very good.

And, anyways, I have some very awesome new hats. I'm extremely happy about that.